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Episode 107: Conversation Skills and Autism

Kids with advanced language skills may be ready to have conversations with others, but how do we teach these skills? In this podcast episode, we’re diving into what conversation skills are and how we can best teach them to our learners. Authentic conversations go beyond simple questions and answers. If we want kids to benefit from conversations and form genuine relationships, we must help them understand that true conversation is a mutual sharing of information. In our own lives, the conversations we tend to enjoy the most are those that go naturally back and forth.

To start, we can teach our learners how to reciprocate in conversations through techniques like an “I have” program. We can then move on to more social questions and comments. Some learners simply echo back or repeat what we say to them, and it’s important to teach them to say something different but related to the conversation. Listen to this episode for examples of how to use different programs to teach conversation skills. We also talk about the challenges of teaching with peers and in the natural environment. 

Teach conversation skills using our free “Do you like?/What’s your favorite?” visual. Download it below.

What’s Inside:

  • The importance of teaching authentic conversation skills to learners.
  • Examples of different programs to teach these skills.
  • The challenges of teaching conversation skills with peers and in the natural environment.

Mentioned In This Episode:

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Can Conversation Be Scripted?